Phelps focusses on positives after shock defeat

Olympic champion Phelps focusses on the positives after yesterday's shock defeat to teammate Lochte in the World Championships 200m freestyle final

Olympic champion Phelps focusses on the positives after yesterday's shock defeat to teammate Lochte in the World Championships 200m freestyle final

Michael Phelps' rocky season took another turn for the worse yesterday when the 14-time Olympic gold medallist was stunned in the world championships 200m freestyle by US teammate Ryan Lochte.

Phelps led over the first 100m until Lochte surged from third place to claim a narrow win in 1min 44.44sec, with defending champion Paul Biedermann of Germany third.


USA's Michael Phelps during yesterday's men's 200m Butterfly semi-final
of the FINA World Championships in Shanghai. PIC/Getty Images

The result means Phelps, the Olympic champion and former world record-holder in the event, fails to regain the crown he lost to supersuit-wearing Biedermann two years ago. South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan was fourth. "I think that if I was on the other side of the pool that race could have been played a little different. I think I woke him up in the first 100 and he went with it," Phelps said.

"I can't complain. I'm bummed I didn't win. But at the same time with what we've done over the last 18 months, I'm over a second faster than I was last year and a second-and-a-half off my best time in a suit."

Phelps remains on course for a possible five gold medals in Shanghai, which would match his haul in Rome two years ago.

He claimed bronze on Sunday when the United States suffered a rare defeat in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Meanwhile Camille Lacourt and Jeremy Stravius bizarrely became France's first male world championsu00a0-- in the same race. Both swimmers won the 100m backstroke in 52.76, in only the second such incident in world championships history.

The unusual result echoes 2007's 100m freestyle world title race when Italy's Filippo Magnini and Brent Hayden of Canada both topped the podium with identical times of 48.43.

In other results, America's Rebecca Soni defended her 100m breaststroke world crown ahead of Olympic champion Leisel Jones of Australia and Asian title-holder Ji Liping of China.